The Secrets, Myths, and Legends of South Street Seaport
Experience New York’s maritime heritage
Come explore the old and the new at South Street Seaport, featuring the largest concentration of restored early 19th-century commercial buildings in New York, and the newly repurposed Tin Building as a culinary marketplace by Chef Jean-Georges. The tour starts at the Titanic Memorial located at the corner of Fulton and Water Streets, a 1913, 60-foot lighthouse built to commemorate those who perished on the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.
South Street Seaport has evolved from one of the first and busiest streets in Manhattan when it was New Amsterdam’s first port serving the Dutch West India Company, and later as the Port of New York importing goods from England and China, and the location for the Fulton Fish Market, in 1822.
Since the 1980s, South Street Seaport has become a tourist destination featuring the South Street Seaport Museum and its fleet of historical ships, Schermerhorn Row, the Titanic Memorial, and the revitalized Pier 17 — a restaurant destination and summer concert venue.
Tour guide Ginny Poleman will guide you through the evolution of the neighborhood with stops at the 18th and 19th century remnants, sharing stories and vintage photographs of a bustling commercial district, ending with spectacular views of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Tour highlights will include:
- Burling Slip, where archeologists discovered in the 1980s the entire hull of an 18th-century merchant ship used as the bulkheads for landfill
- Schermerhorn Row, the landmarked Federal Style early 19th century counting houses built by Peter Schermerhorn, the ancestor to the Gilded Age’s “The Mrs. Astor”, Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, and today’s home of the South Street Seaport Museum
- Peck Slip, the only remaining NYC neighborhood with authentic maritime architecture, and the temporary hideout for George Washington and his troops during the American Revolution
- Water Street, the location of the 1770s “Rat Pit” when Water Street was once the “sea of wretchedness and sin” of gambling halls, prostitution, and dog fights
- Pier 17, location of South Street Seaport’s fleet of ships, including the 1885 Wavertree freighter, the largest remaining wrought iron vessel in the States, as well as the site of the newly updated Tin Building, once the home of the Fulton Fish Market and now a curated, upscale food hall
The Tour
This tour walks through the historic district of South Street Seaport. It starts at Titanic Memorial Park near the corner of Fulton and Water Streets, ending at Pier 17.
Duration
2 hours and about 1 mile of walking
Rates
$40
Please contact us to set up a private tour!
Ages
This tour is best suited for ages 12+
Tour Guide
Ginny Poleman is a graduate of Cornell University, a licensed New York City Sightseeing Guide, a trained docent for the Municipal Art Society, an Allied Member of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
Prep for the tour by listening to Bowery Boys episodes “The History of South Street Seaport.”